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Ventral and dorsal views of Pauropus amicus from New South Wales, Australia.

Pauropods are soft, cylindrical animals with bodies 0.5 to 2 millimetres (0.02 to 0.08 in) long.[1] The first instar has three pairs of legs, but that number increases with each moult so that adult species may have nine to eleven pairs of legs. They have neither eyes nor hearts. The body segments have ventral tracheal/spiracular pouches forming apodemes similar to those in millipedes and Symphyla, although the trachea usually connected to these structures are absent in most species. The antennae are branching, which is distinctive for the group.[2]

Pauropods live in the soil, usually at densities of less than 100 per square metre (9/sq ft).[2]

Though no fossil pauropods have been found from before the time of the Baltic amber (40 to 35million years ago), they seem to be an old group closely related to the millipedes (Diplopoda). Their head capsules show great similarities to millipedes: both have three pairs of mouthparts and the genital openings occur in the anterior part of the body. Moreover, both groups have a pupoid phase at the end of the embryonic development. The two groups probably have a common origin.

There are two orders: Hexamerocerata and Tetramerocerata; Hexamerocerata has a purely tropical range, while in Tetramerocerata, most genera are subcosmopolitan.[3] Hexamerocerata has a 6-segmented and strongly telescopic antennal stalk and a 12-segmented trunk with 12 tergites and 11 pairs of legs. The representatives are white and proportionately long and large. The one family in this order, Millotauropodidae, has one genus and a few species.[3] Tetramerocerata has a 4-segmented and scarcely telescopic antennal stalk, 6 tergites, and 8–10 pairs of legs. Representatives of this order are often small (sometimes very small), and white or brownish. Most species have nine pairs of legs as adults.[3] The four families include Pauropodidae, Afrauropodidae, Brachypauropodidae, and Eurypauropodidae. Most genera and species belong to the family Pauropodidae.